Replaceable cartridge type fountain pen



March 11, 1958 H. E. MORSE ETAL (REPLACEABLE CARTRIDGE TYPE FOUNTAIN PEN Filed Feb. 4, 1954 IN VEN TOR Af/VIPY f. MORSE NORHL A AZJO/V ATTORNEYS Unite States Patent REPLACEABIJE CARTRIDGE TYPE FOUNTAIN PE AppliGafionFebruary 4, 1954, Serial No. 408,105

oClaims. c1. nix-45.4

This invention relates to ink type of writing instruments and particularlyto replaceable ink cartridge writing pens. Aprimary object of this invention is the provision of a fountain pen having a pen point holder and replaceable ink cartridge which forms the handle of the pen, and wherein upon the depletion of the ink in the cartridge, the latter may be disconnected from the pen point holder and a new cartridge quickly and easily coupled to the holder to, furnish a renew-edsupply of ink to the pen j. A concomitant object is the provision in such a pen or m ans whichprevent anyleakage of ink between pen ppint \h9l ler and the cartridge, either during the aptoficoppling a ew inkcartridge to the pen point holder, or after the cartridge has been coupled thereto.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a replaceable cartridg for a fountain pen, wherein before attachment of the cartridge to the pen, the cartridge is a sealed element which maybe carried or stored for subsequent attachmentto the. pen point holder without any dahger of leakage or drying of the ink supply within the cartridge.

Another-object of the invention is the provision of a replaceable cartridge type fountain pen wherein the pen, point holder is provided with a threaded cartridge puncturing element, having an ink passage therethrough, which is adapted to thread its way through a pervious wall of the cartridge and project into the hollow body thereof and permit the flow of ink from the cartridge to the penpoint through such passageway. A concomitant object is the provision of a threaded, pen point holder and acomplementary threaded ink cartridge, by means of which threads the holder and cartridge are coupled securely together, and which threads have the same lead as dothe threads on the cartridge puncturing element.-

, Still another object of the invention is the provision of a penpointholder threaded at the rear end to receive inthreadedengagement a replaceable ink cartridge, and wherein the pen point holder exhibits a threaded cartridge wallpuncturing element so disposed with respect to the threaded portion of the pen point holder that the elemenadoes not begin to tap its way through the cartridge wall :until' the holder and cartridge are partially threaded together.

. An advantageof the invention resides in the provision of. an.-.ink cartridge which itself forms a portion of the bodyoof thelpen when. attached to the pen point holder,

and thereby the cartridge is adapted to hold a larger supply/of; ink; than is possible if, as with prior pens it must fitiwithin the body of the pen.

A. meritorious feature of the invention is the provision of asreplaceable ink cartridge having a pervious end wall for-medgof. aiplastic dis-c, inset within a hollow tube like end-cr me cartridge, and which disc is puncturable by thei-tappingmetion of a threaded pen point feed tube as the pen. point. holder andcartridge are coupled together.

Whileuit is primarily intended that the cartridge be discarded after-its ink supply is exhausted, the invention contemplatesthereuseof -the same cartridge by the re ice moval ofthe punctured vrlisc, the refilling of the cartridge and thereafter, the insertion of a new disc to re lace the punctured, one, and thereafter a reuse of the same cartridg In the preferred form the ink cartridge constitutes the barrelv or handle ofthe fountain pen and is replaceable.

-Other objects, advantages, and meritorious features will become more fully apparent from the following claims, specification and drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a view of our improved pen partially broken away to show the. novelyfeatures of construction,

Fig...2.is. an enlaigedfr-agmentary view in cross .sectionof the, puncturingelehient just before it begins to tap, itswayth'rough theper'vious disc of thecartridge;

3 is ,a .cross sectional viewtaken on line 3 -3. of Fig.

Fig. 4 is across sectional view taken on line 49-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the insert received in the puncturing, element which divides the interior of the elementinto .an inkvrpassagewayand an air passageway; and

Fig, 6;is a. modified form of the puncturing element.

In carryingout theobiects of our invention a hol- 'low penpoint or nib holder, 10 is provided which is interiorly threadedas at 12 at the rear end. This threaded portion terminatesinteriorly in a shoulder 14, against which is adapted to abut the forward end 16 of the replaceabl-einkcartridge 18, which is exteriorally threaded as at20-to be threadedly coupled to the holder as shown in Fig l. The walls of the holder are offset outwardly as at 22, andv the. walls of the cartridge are offset inwardly as at 24, so that. the -exterior of the assembled holder and cartridge will presenta smooth cylindrical surface. The. cartridge-forms a handle for the holder and a part of the body of the fountain pen when the cartridge and holder are assembled.

Disposed withinythe pen holder is a pen point or nib 26- which. is fed ink from the cartridge through a passage way 28; Thepassageway 28. is "formed of two connected passageways 30..and- 32.- Thepassageway 30 is formed by the interior bore of a. small tube 34 which is supported by and extends from blockend 36 of a feed tube 37 to the rub 26. The block is disposed within the holder and is provided with four ridges or tongues 38 which fit within complementary grooves termed in the walls of the holder. Such tongues and grooves prevent the feed tube 37 from rotating in. the holder.

The other passageway. 32 which forms the second connectedpart of the passageway 28 is stormed by the interior bore of theexposed portion 39of the feed tube. Such exposed port-ion, or what may be termed cartridge puncturingneedle, is tapered to a point and threaded as at 40, and the pitch of these threadscorrespond to the pitch of thet-hreads formed on the cartridge and the holder at 12 and- 20; The needle-is an integral part of the end wall of the block 36 of the feed tube 37. Such end wall is in dicated at 42 in Figsyl and 6. Interiorlyof the block is disposeda hardrubberinsert 44 which supports the tube-34 imposition within the block. An O-ring gasket 45, formed at rubber or the like, encircles the ink feed tube and is disposed within. a groove. formed in the block asshown inFig. 1. This gasket isadapted to bear against theinneiwall 46 of. the: cartridge as shown in Fig. l, and prevent the leakage of ink as hereinafter described.

The passageway 32 within the needle opens outwardly thereof through two ports 48 and 50 through the threads of the needle. Disposed within the feed tube 28, and ektending tromthe ports 48 and 50 to the nib, is an insert 52. Therinsert is a semi-cylindrical rod of hard rubber or the like provided with a linearly extending capillary groove 54 and aslot 5.6 at one end, and serves to divide the feed tube into ink passageway and an air passageway.

materials, instead of plastic, which of the Walls of the tube, as at 58, in Fig. 4, and the fiat faces 60 and 62 of the insert. The slot 56 permits the communication of the ink and air passageways with the interior of the cartridge through the ports 58 and 50.

The inner wall 4-6 of the cartridge terminates at the outer or forward end, at the threaded end of the cartridge, and terminates at the inner or rear end in a shoulder 64, as shown in Fig. 2. Rearwardly of the shoulder there extends the smaller diameter bore 66 which opens into the ink reservoir proper 68 of the cartridge.

Disposed within the bore defined by the cartridge wall 46, and spaced from the threaded end threaded together.

As the needle or feed tube revolves, or as the cartridge is revolved within the holder, the threaded end of the feed tube is drawn toward the disc by the action of the threads on the cartridge and holder. As the tip of the feed tube engages the disc, it begins to thread or tap its way therethrough. Such tapping continues until the shoulder 14 of the holder abuts the threaded end of the cartridge, whereupon the feed tube, cartridge, and holder are disposed as shown in Fig. 1.

The threaded end of the feed tube is so disposed with respect to the threads of the holder, and the rear end of the holder, that two or three threads of the holder and the cartridge will be engaged before the end of the needle will contact the disc.

As before stated, the threads of the needle or feed tube 39 are of substantially the same pitch as the threads on the cartridge and holder. When thisfact together, as shown in Fig. 1, an ink seal is etfected around the needle where it passes through the disc. Such seal is improved by the resiliency of the plastic disc which tends to fill the grooves between the threads and press against the needle.

The ports &3 and 50 in the feed tube are spaced from the tip thereof so that they will not interfere with the initial tapping action of the tube through the disc. Their disposition also prevents plastic'shavings that may tend to form by the tapping action of the needle from entering the bore of the ink passageway. The rubber O-ring 45 engages the smooth bore of the cartridge formed by the cylindrical wall 46 after the feed tube has begun to thread its way through the disc. However, it is within the concept of the invention that the O-ring and needle could be so disposed and sized that the O-ring would engage the bore 46 before the needle began to tap its way through the disc. This alternative construction is desirable the disc is made of relatively non-resilient materials may not form an effective seal about the needle until some 01 the threads nearer the base of the needle have been tapped into the disc. It has, however, been found entirely satisfactory to dispose the O-ring as shown when a plastic disc is employed because there is no ink leakage around the needle as it is tapped into the disc, even in the initial stages of the tapping operation.

The O-ring gasket shown in the drawings it particularly useful if the cartridge and holder should become partly uncoupled before the ink supply is exhausted as where the cartridge is inadvertently partially unscrewed from the holder. And again, the O-ring will prevent any ink leakage if for some reason ink should pass around the needle and seep downwardly toward the block.

it is to be noted that the replaceable cartridge 18 itself forms the barrel or handle of the pen when it is coupled to the nib holder. Because of this the pen will tridge is enclosed within, and separate from,

Such use of the cartridge as the barrel or handle of the pen is made possible by the relatively long threads of the cartridge and holder which couple the two together in a rigid connection. As pointed out hereinabove, if because the cartridge does form the barrel or handle of the assembled pen, it should become partially unthreaded from the pen point holder during use of the pen, the O-ring gasket bearing against the interior bore 46 of the barrel 18 will prevent the escape of ink from between the barrel and pen point holder.

Fig. 6 shows a slight modification of the needle 39 heretofore described. In Fig. 6 only the tip of the needle is threaded as at 72 with the threads terminating at the edge of the ports 48' Between the threaded end of the needle and the end wall 42' of the block the needle has a smooth cylindrical outer wall 74.

of the needle. It has been found that in some instances the termination of threads 72 just ahead of ports 48 and 50 will prevent shavings from the disc from entering the ports.

pen comprising: a pen with the pitch of the threads corresponding to the pitch of the threads on the holder and cartridge and the threadsealing the open end to form an ink reservoir, said wall being spaced from the open end of the cartridge a distance such in relation to the length of the exposed portion of the feed tube that upon initial threading of the holder and cartridge together the threaded point of the tube is spaced from the wall, and the relationship in the distance of said wall from the end of the cartridge and the length of the exposed portion of the tube being such that when the holder and cartridge are completely threaded together a portion of the threaded point of the feed tube is disposed in threaded ink sealing engagement with the wall and another portion projects beyond the wall and into the ink reservoir.

3. A cartridge type fountain pen comprising: a pen point holder having a threaded end, an ink feed tube in the holder having a cartridge puncturing portion extending coaxially of the holder, said cartridge puncturing portion provided with a threaded point with the pitch of the threads corresponding to the pitch of the threads at the threaded end of the holder, an ink cartridge having a threaded open end adapted to be threadedly coupled to the threaded end of the holder, a pervious wall disposed interiorly of the cartridge and sealing the open end thereof to form an ink reservoir, and said threaded point of the cartridge puncturing portion of the tube adapted to be tapped through the pervious wall of the cartridge and forming a seal therewith as the cartridge and holder are threaded together.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 characterized in that said cartridge puncturing portion of the ink feed tube is threaded and tapered throughout its length.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4 characterized in that the feed tube is provided with a longitudinal passageway opening outwardly at the threaded end of the cartridge puncturing portion through the threaded side wall thereof.

6. A cartridge type fountain pen comprising: a pen point holder having a threaded end, an ink feed tube disposed within the threaded end of the holder and extending coaxially thereof and having a tapering threaded point, an ink cartridge having a threaded end adapted to be threadedly coupled to the threaded end of the holder, a puncturable wall at the threaded end of the cartridge, said threaded point of the tube adapted to tap through said puncturable wall and form a seal therewith during and after threaded coupling of the cartridge and holder, and the axial position of said wall relative to the threaded end of the cartridge and the axial position of said threaded point relative to the threaded end of the holder being such that upon initial threading together of the cartridge and holder the tip of said point is spaced from the puncturable wall and upon complete threading together of the cartridge and holder said point of the feed tube extends in threaded ink-sealing engagement through the wall and therebeyond.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,574,919 Murdock Mar. 2, 1926 1,657,033 Pollock Jan. 24, 1928 1,712,141 Folk May 7, 1929 1,826,195 Wooldridge Oct. 6, 1931 2,061,059 Carlson Nov. 17, 1936 2,501,102 Shelton Mar. 21, 1950 2,620,773 Tefit Dec. 9, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 30,128 Great Britain 1910 16,731 Great Britain 1912 

